World Cup 2018: We’re a soccer for a supplier management pun

Similarly, effective supplier information management software should bring together different teams and departments seamlessly in order to tackle the minefield of compliance risk and legislation.

Get to know Moore about your players – and your suppliers’ products

Before being chosen to play for any team, football players are scrutinised and picked based on a variety of factors and information gathered from their managers – as Gareth Southgate knows all too well – you best have picked a winning team, Gareth!

When we relate this to the supply chain, advanced software, such as ARCUS^® PIM, utilises custom questionnaires to collect specific product technical information during the onboarding process of suppliers.

This can include crucial information for businesses in the foodservice and hospitality and food and drink manufacturing spaces, such as allergen information, nutrition and packaging – allowing suppliers to attach specific documents about their products themselves, which will be handy for those in Quality and Technical roles.

This information, combined with that gathered from procurement teams during the onboarding process, enables businesses to make the best decision on which suppliers they wish to work with.

Put some extra time into learning about your supplier sites

The unpredictability of the weather here in the UK means that the England team should fare well when acclimatising to Russia – remember the Beast from the East and Storm Emma?

But for other players, the climate in Russia may require an adjustment period, in order for them to be in tip-top condition for the game, understanding and knowing more about the environment is quite important.

Likewise, understanding the environment your supplier operates in is just as imperative for foodservice businesses, especially the Technical and Quality professionals within them.

Now, the ARCUS^® SIM module features additional functionality allowing users to collect specific information from suppliers about each of their manufacturing sites. This can include certification for BRC, Kosher, Halal, organic etc. as well as information relating to food safety, like HACCP.

Understanding more about manufacturing sites creates better visibility over the supply base and integrating this process with the supplier onboarding process saves time, reduces administration and encourages business collaboration.

Sort out your supplier audits before the final whistle blows

Deadline day sparks frantic gossip among fans, decreases productivity at work and makes us all suddenly become experts on players we have never heard of, let alone pronounce their names correctly (Croatian midfielder, Ognjen Vukijević, is a great example of this).

The Sky Sports channel regularly gives us reminders and countdowns to the end of deadline day – some of us love it and some of us hate it; but interestingly, this can be related back to new functionality in supplier information management software, designed to alert Quality and Technical teams when audits are due on suppliers – to make sure you don’t miss any of your deadlines.

Configurable workflow tasks integrated with ARCUS^® SIM can match your specific audit dates and ensure that all suppliers are audited consistently and periodically, with just the click of a button.

Additionally, users have the ability to upload specific audit documentation against suppliers, and the cloud-based central storage system means this is fully accessible by all stakeholders, meaning your business can avoid being given the red card when the auditor pays you a visit.

Kick-off collaboration across your business departments

These newly-developed plug-ins for Supplier Information Management software are designed to bring worlds (Procurement and Technical) together – just like the World Cup brings together nations.

The seamless approach to managing different levels of supplier risks is advancing the way that businesses, particularly in the foodservice and hospitality space, manage their supply bases while removing silos of information and providing complete transparency over the status of each supplier.

To find out more, take a look at our SIM web page by clicking here, or you can get in touch if you would like to chat through the new functionality in further detail.